Valueworks LLC Takes $18.45 Million Position in Jefferies Financial Group Inc. $JEF

Valueworks LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:JEF) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 369,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,000. Jefferies Financial Group makes up 3.8% of Valueworks LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JEF. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $224,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Jefferies Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $3,325,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jefferies Financial Group by 159.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in Jefferies Financial Group by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 226,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,798,000 after buying an additional 17,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Jefferies Financial Group by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 25,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after buying an additional 2,751 shares during the period. 60.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JEF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Jefferies Financial Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Jefferies Financial Group in a research report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Jefferies Financial Group from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings raised Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Jefferies Financial Group from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.62.

Jefferies Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of JEF opened at $52.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.53 and a 52-week high of $71.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.77. The company has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 1.54.

Jefferies Financial Group (NYSE:JEF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.14). Jefferies Financial Group had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 7.58%.The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Jefferies Financial Group Inc. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Jefferies Financial Group’s payout ratio is 44.69%.

Jefferies Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group Inc is a diversified financial services company that provides a range of investment banking, capital markets and asset management services to corporations, governments and institutional investors worldwide. Through its core platform, Jefferies offers advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity underwriting, restructuring and recapitalization. The firm also operates a global sales and trading business covering equities, fixed income and foreign exchange products, complemented by equity research and macroeconomic analysis.

In addition to its capital markets franchise, Jefferies maintains a growing asset management division that delivers customized investment solutions across public and private markets.